{"id":876104,"date":"2026-04-06T15:50:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T15:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/876104\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T15:50:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T15:50:21","slug":"mark-clattenburg-blasts-var-as-leeds-united-told-mistake-was-made-against-west-ham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/876104\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Clattenburg blasts VAR as Leeds United told mistake was made against West Ham"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/ Add as preferred source on Google <\/a> <\/p>\n

Mark Clattenburg has made it clear Leeds United were on the wrong end of a major refereeing error against West Ham, and the consequences are already being felt.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leeds<\/a> booked their place in the FA Cup semi-final for the first time since 1987 after a dramatic win at the London Stadium, with the Whites eventually winning after a penalty shootout.<\/p>\n

The Whites were cruising into the semi-finals, 2-0 up. But West Ham scored two injury-time goals to force extra time. The game went to penalties and thankfully for Leeds, Pascal Struijk scored the decider.<\/p>\n

QUARTER-FINAL 3: Ethan Ampadu or Jayden Bogle? <\/p>\n

Who is your Leeds Player of the Season?<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

For the second time this season, Lucas Perri was immense during a penalty shootout \u2013 saving penalties from Jarrod Bowen and Pablo. But it was not all positives. Anton Stach was forced off with an injury.<\/p>\n

Max Kilman\u2019s challenge on Anton Stach<\/a> was waved away by the referee and VAR, yet the fallout extends beyond a missed decision, with Stach suffering an injury that impacts Leeds\u2019 fight against relegation.<\/p>\n

Clattenburg<\/a>, the former Premier League referee, has now delivered a decisive verdict on the incident when speaking exclusively to LeedsUnited.News<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Clattenburg delivers damning verdict on Kilman challenge<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no doubt in my mind that Leeds United should have been awarded a penalty kick in their exciting FA Cup match v West Ham. The challenge by Max Kilman on Anton Stach was reckless catching his opponent on the foot without touching the ball,\u201d Clattenburg told LeedsUnited.News<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

MORE LEEDS UNITED STORIES<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way a penalty kick could not be awarded is if the ball is out of the field of play when the challenge was made. We can see from the replay that the ball was in play.<\/p>\n

\"WestPhoto by Kevin Hodgson\/MI News\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not accept the VAR\u2019s explanation that it was a coming together of two players. This was a clear foul and does not excuse the fact that the Leeds United forward and made a shot to goal before the contact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clattenburg\u2019s assessment leaves little room for interpretation. He describes the contact as reckless, confirms the ball was in play, and directly challenges the VAR explanation.<\/p>\n

For Leeds, it was not just a subjective call. It was, according to one of the most experienced referees in the game, a clear error. Not only did the referee make a mistake, but so did those at Stockley Park.<\/p>\n

Leeds progress, but Stach injury raises concern<\/p>\n

Leeds will now face Chelsea at Wembley as they look to take another step in a historic FA Cup run, with this their first semi-final appearance since 1987.<\/p>\n

It also presents a chance to erase the memory of their last trip to Wembley in the 2023-24 play-off final, a result that still lingers. However, the immediate focus has shifted to Stach, after Kilman\u2019s challenge.<\/p>\n

The midfielder was forced off and later spotted leaving the London Stadium on crutches while wearing a protective boot, underlining the seriousness of the issue.<\/p>\n

Are you concerned if Leeds face a relegation scrap without Anton Stach? <\/p>\n

Not one for the faint-hearted.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Daniel Farke has since confirmed the problem is an ankle ligament injury<\/a>, raising real concern over his availability in the weeks ahead.<\/p>\n

That matters. Stach has started 25 of Leeds\u2019 31 Premier League matches this season, scoring four goals and providing three assists, while playing a key role in midfield.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Leeds United\u2019s Pascal Struijk delivers early warning to Chelsea ahead of FA Cup semi-final<\/a><\/p>\n

Leeds may cope without Stach despite his importance<\/p>\n

Despite that importance, there is a surprising twist in the numbers. Leeds have actually averaged 0.92 points per game in the 25 Premier League matches Stach has started this season.<\/p>\n

In the six games where he has not been in the starting line-up, that figure rises sharply to 1.66 points per game. It is a stat that cuts against expectation.<\/p>\n

Stach remains a trusted and heavily used player under Farke, but the data suggests Leeds have still found ways to pick up results without him.<\/p>\n

That does not diminish the concern around his injury, particularly given the timing with both a relegation battle and an FA Cup semi-final on the horizon. But it does offer a degree of perspective.<\/p>\n

Clattenburg\u2019s verdict highlights a decision that went against Leeds, and one that has already had a tangible impact.<\/p>\n

Whether it proves decisive over the remainder of the season may depend not just on the injury itself, but on how Leeds respond without one of their most relied upon midfielders.<\/p>\n

Join Our Newsletter<\/p>\n

Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Add as preferred source on Google Mark Clattenburg has made it clear Leeds United were on the wrong…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":876105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8814],"tags":[92679,748,393,4884,1860,44091,16,15],"class_list":["post-876104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-leeds","tag-anton-stach","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-leeds","tag-mark-clattenburg","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116358560632812444","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=876104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/876104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/876105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=876104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=876104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=876104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}